


Around the World in Seven Years

by marinefollese



Series: Seven Years [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst, Breakups, Future Fic, Getting Back Together, M/M, married midotaka and aokaga and murahimu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-20 03:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2413319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marinefollese/pseuds/marinefollese
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kise Ryouta has been everywhere, except the one place he really wants to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Around the World in Seven Years

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello. uh i don't have much to say? There are some people like maira- my oc that i'm not too happy about but //shrugs. also kikuro is very dear to my heart and well, this is just a plethora of headcanons i have for any of the other ships listed here because i felt like it. companion pieces are on the way! i hope the phrasing isn't too awkward. this is also posted on tumblr and ffnet if you'd like to read it there. also this is freaking ooc but i ran out of wind at the end

Kise meets Midorima and Takao in Indonesia. He doesn't know why, though. All he knows is that when he went to their wedding seven years prior, Takao gushed to him about their plans to take the philanthropy out of the country. Takao flashed him a devilish grin, asked him to come visit sometime in Jakarta, and pushed him off to Kuroko.

Kuroko humored his request, and led him into a dance- one of his favourites, it was an old and slow French song, one he had heard on one of his many trips to the country. It was perfect for Midorima and Takao, for their wedding, and for himself and Kuroko too, but he willed his mind not to go down that path. Kuroko smiled at the end of the dance, and it was beautiful. He never smiled often, but when he did, it tugged at Kise’s heart, and he found himself smiling back.

He shook his head; he knew where his mind was going, and he didn't like that path very much, no. Picking up his bag from the carousel- he had a single bag because he was planning on leaving Jakarta soon- he headed to the taxi queue and boarded one after giving the driver Midorima and Takao’s address.

It took him a few hours to leave the airport area and get to their house. The traffic was some of the worse he’d seen, and he’d seen a lot.

He wasn’t sure what to expect when he rang their doorbell, but it was a surprise to find Takao with a little girl in his arms. The man blinked his eyes, before they softened and his face eased into smile.

“Kise? Nice seeing you after all this while, huh?” Takao’s voice hadn't changed after all these years, still young and playful. Kise smiled before he kicked off his shoes and entered the house.

“Shin-chan! You’d never believe who came to visit!” Takao called up the stairs. Kise stood awkwardly in the hallway until Takao ushered him into the living room. Again, to his astonishment, it was littered with toys and Takao made no effort to clean up. He plonked down on the couch, and watched as Kise sat himself down on the armchair.  

“Is she your daughter?” The little girl was tottering about, now that she escaped Takao’s hold, and barrelled straight into Kise’s legs. Kise hoisted her up and put her in his lap.

“Mmhm, she is. Her name’s Maira.” Takao’s eyes shone with pride as he looked at his little girl.

Maira shifted in Kise’s lap and faced him, her eyes catching on something behind him. Catching on to the shift in her attention, Kise turned his head around and saw his old teammate approaching.

“Midorimacchi! It’s nice seeing you!” Kise waved at the man, who merely sighed in exasperation and opened out his arms for his daughter to jump in.

“Kise. It’s nice to see you too.” Although his voice was as deep and flat as ever, Kise could detect some hidden warmth somewhere in his words. He had changed quite a bit.

“So what brings you to this part of the world?” Midorima asks once he settles down on the couch next to Takao. They’re pressed into each other, and Kise would find it cute if he wasn’t so bitter over the idea of love in the first place.

“I happen to fly from Osaka to Jakarta. Thought I’d drop by.”

“Osaka? That’s where you’re based now, isn’t it?” Takao asks.

“Yeah. I made the move from Tokyo to Osaka sometime after your wedding, actually,” Kise replies, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Although he didn’t regret his decision, he knew his friends did.

“Why? Don’t you think that’s running away?” Takao asks, and he’s all seriousness now, Kise can see, because his eyes get this silvery steel glint. Midorima can sense this too, and he puts a hand on his husband’s arm.

“I do,” and Kise has to grit his teeth when talking to them- _but that’s stupid because they’re your friends, Ryouta_ \- “but it’s the only way I can deal with it.”

“You’re running away. Plain and simple. But there’s no point in us trying to change anything about it, and I don't think that's why you're here in the first place. So tell us, and Maira here,” Midorima gestures to his daughter who is seated in his lap, “what exactly you’ve been up to. The life of a pilot can’t exactly be boring, can it?” Midorima pushes his glasses up, just like he did since he was twelve years old, and Kise would’ve kissed him for it if not for the metal band on his finger, and the man next to him.

“Well, I’ve been to many places. I like to switch things up a bit,” and he swallows past the lump in his throat, “because it’s boring to be in one place for so long. I’ve flown to Paris, and to London and America, and India and China and Thailand, and now Indonesia.” He smiles at the way the little girl’s eyes light up when he mentions Indonesia and as she tugs on Midorima’s sleeve.

“We’ve been teaching her Japanese.” Takao offers as somesort of an explanation, and Kise nods in understanding.

“She’s quite a beautiful young lady,” Kise says, pointedly at her, and he knows she understands when she turns pink, “and I know when she grows up she’ll be gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.”

He watches Midorima give her a kiss on the crown of her head, and Takao squeeze her little hand. Its refreshing to see people he’d known since high school transition into adulthood. But something tugged at his chest and he found himself longing. Blinking past it, he smiled at the scene unfolding in front of him.

He was happy for Midorima and Takao, he really was, but it was hard seeing that other people were getting on with their lives, while he wasn’t.

* * *

He visits Murasakibara and Himuro in the United States a few weeks later. This time, he calls them up in advance and the two come to pick him up from the airport.

Murasakibara hasn’t changed- both physically and behaviourally. He’s still is tall as ever- _thank god he didn’t grow anymore, Ryouta. It’s the simple things, Ryouta_ \- and when he gets to the waiting area of the airport he’s eating something, with a bored scowl on his face. Himuro looks as pleasant as ever, and he’s smiling endearingly at Murasakibara, and Kise can’t help but think that they’re perfect for each other.

He waves as he approaches the two, and Himuro notices and waves back. Murasakibara’s food occupies his attention, though, and Kise doesn’t get a greeting from his former teammate until he reaches the two of them.

“Welcome to L.A., Kise! I’m not sure the airport should’ve been your first experience though- I know how hellish it can be!” Himuro laughs, it’s light and airy, much like the sea breeze in Hawaii; Kise had been there twice before- once during his modelling days and the other after flying from Japan to Hawaii.

“Hi Kise-chin.” Murasakibara looks at him, and Kise smiles. Bright like the Los Angeles sunshine, he likes to think of his own smile.

“Hi Murasakibaracchi, Himurocchi. Thanks for coming to get me.”

“Oh, it’s no problem, really.” Himuro smiles again, and proceeds to lead them out of the airport. Murasakibara takes his bag from him, which is to his great surprise, because previous interactions with the guy lead him to believe that he was a little more that selfish. Himuro leads them into a sunny car park, and he puts on a pair of Raybans and runs his fingers through his hair, while scanning the area for his car. He makes a noise of acknowledgement and continues walking.

They hop into his car; it’s a nice SUV, with a leather interior. Kise sits in the back seat, and Murasakibara can sit comfortably in the front seat. Everything is bigger in America, he thinks.

“Oh yeah, Kise,” Himuro hums while driving, “it’s about time for dinner, so we were wondering if you don’t mind us swinging by the drive-thru?” Himuro makes eye contact with him through the eye mirror, and Kise doesn’t have the heart to say no, especially after all they’ve done for him, and because he’s hungry,too. “Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Atsushi, baby, Mexican or burgers?” Himuro practically coos at Murasakibara, and Kise thinks that this makes him all the more attractive. Murasakibara was lucky.

“Burgers, please, Tatsu-chin,” and Kise wrinkles his nose in confusion. He doesn’t remember that name; it must have come along in the seven years they were apart.

“Sure,” Himuro looks back at the rearview mirror, “Kise, we’ll find something for you, too, don’t worry.”

“It’s okay. I’m quite well-travelled. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to adapt.” Kise laughs. Adaptablity was not just his skill on the court, he wasn’t too bad with it in real life either.

“Kise-chin has changed, huh?” Murasakibara muses out loud, and Himuro chuckles and asks, “haven’t we all?”

Kise wants to say that not much has changed for him either. But he doesn’t know for sure if he can justify that.

Half an hour later finds himself settled in the dining area of Murasakibara and Himuro’s house. It’s a rather large one- two floors and four bedrooms. Once again, Murasakibara surprises him by taking his bag for him and bringing it straight upstairs. Himuro heads over to their kitchen and begins to take out the fast food from its packaging.

Dinner is mostly a quite affair, but it is not awkward. Murasakibara eats like he always does, and like always, is silent throughout dinner. Himuro mainly fills him in on their life together in the States, and Kise wishes he hadn’t excluded himself from his friends’ lives so much. Himuro tells him mostly about what happened when they first moved to the country. How they found their house, jobs, friends. Murasakibara opens his mouth to talk, however, when the subject of his proffesion comes up.

“Yeah, I have a bakery. It’s in the city, quite near where Tatsu-chin works.” Kise’s eyebrows arch in curiosity, “Well, Murasakibaracchi, I’d love to drop by sometime.” Murasakibara makes a noise of agreement, and he stands and rummages in the refrigerator for something. He produces a box which he thrusts into Kise’s face.

“Try it, Kise-chin. It’s chocolate.” Kise blinks in confusion, and Himuro laughs. “Now I know you’re not a model anymore, but a few extra calories wouldn’t hurt, would it?” He teases, and Murasakibara’s face lights up in amusement. Kise decides then and there, that he would not let Murasakibara make a mockery of him, so he takes the box from his hands. Opening it he finds a small chocolate dome, coated in a glossy ganache and he takes a bite, using a fork Murasakibara set down next to him.

It’s absolutely delicious. He let’s Murasakibara know this.

“I’m glad Kise-chin thinks so.” He smiles- _holy shit, Ryouta, Murasakibaracchi is smiling for the first time ever_ \- and Kise is happy to see that another one of his friends has found his passion.

That night, he feels more awkward than ever. He’s lying awake in one of the guest bedrooms, covers pulled up, and trying desperately to fall asleep. Two rooms down, Murasakibara and Himuro were making a lot of noise.

“Aah- Atsushi right there…yes!” He tosses over to face the window.

“Mm…Tatsu-chin, you feel good.” He covers his face with a pillow.

“Aah…yes right there… _yes_!” He resorts to pulling out his iPod and almost blasting the music to full volume.

In the morning, he pretends he heard nothing the night before by covering his dark circles with concealer- _thank god you always remember the important stuff, Ryouta_ \- and sauntering down casually. Murasakibara was making waffles and Himuro was drinking coffee while seated at the dining table. He looked rather dapper in his suit- _he cleans up nicely, huh, Ryouta, unlike Murasakibaracchi_ \- especially in comparison to Murasakibara who was dressed in a wrinkled pair of pyjamas.

“Morning, Kise-chin, coffee?” Murasakibara asks, looking sleepily over his shoulder.

“Morning to you too, Murasakibaracchi; Himurocchi. Yeah, I’d like coffee, please.”

“I thought you hated coffee,” Himuro looks at him in confusion.

“I did, but coffee-drinking was a habit I picked up recently, and I- well, I can’t kill it,” again, Kise feels awkward about confessing this, but Himuro just smiles at him and goes back to typing something on his Blackberry.

He sat down to a breakfast of waffles, fruit and coffee, and had a pleasant conversation with the couple until Himro had to leave for work.

“Bye Atsushi, and you too, Kise.” He said before kissing Murasakibara on the cheek, and closing the door behind him.

“Kise-chin, I closed the bakery for the next week, so we can go around, okay?” Murasakibara tells him, and it’s so sincere and nice that it makes Kise tear up a little. It was nice to be the centre of attention every once in a while.

“Sure,” he sniffs and Murasakibara looks at him oddly.

They go to some of the places he read about, and they visit a beach- Himuro joins them for this, and Kise gets a kick out of seeing Murasakibara jealous of people staring at Himuro. Murasakibara informs him that this is a common problem, and Himuro butts in and says that he almost crushed a few of them.

At least that hasn’t changed, then.

He leaves L.A. a changed man- he now sports a tan, and can now read almost an entire menu in English.

* * *

He sighs when he finally meets the familiar smell of Japan. He’s at Tokyo Narita, after flying from Beijing, and decides to pay some more people a visit.

This is probably going to be the most painful one yet, since he’s meeting the two closest people to Kuroko yet, and he’s got a terrible feeling in his gut that this isn’t going to end well.

He knocks on the door of their apartment, and is met with a familiar redhead.

“Kise?”

He nods. _Now I know I’ve changed a lot since then, but come on Kagamicchi, you seriously can’t recognise me? How many other blondes do you even know?_

He scratches that thought process though, when he remembers meeting Alex Garcia for the first time.

Kagami opens the door wide enough for him to come in, and he puts his bag down in the hallway.

“Oi, Taiga, who’s at the door?” Another familiar voice lazily drawls out, and Aomine’s blue eyes widen when they land on him.

“Hi, Aominecchi, long time no see, huh?” He giggles awkwardly and rubs the back of his neck.

“It’s been seven fucking years, Kise.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Obviously not sorry enough to tell us what happened to you, or where you’ve been, Ki-chan.” A third voice joins, and his pewter eyes blink in astonishment at Momoi’s appearance. Her hair was cut short, falling in a curtain above her shoulders, and she had grown a little taller.

“I’m sorry, Momocchi, but-“

“Save it. We don’t want your apologies. We want to know what happened.” Kagami comes in with three bottles of beer, and tosses one to him and one to Aomine.

He exhales, it’s long and loud, and sinks down onto the armchair, before taking a sip from his bottle.

“So exactly what the fuck have you been up to, Kise?” Aomine asks harshly.

“I’ve been places.”

“I know. Tatsuya called and told me you visited.” Figures Kagami would be in touch with his brother.

“Ki-chan, you’ve been travelling the world while Tetsu-kun was heartbroken  and left behind?” Momoi looked at him in disbelief, and he felt incredibly guilty all of a sudden.

“I-I-I’m sorry.” He exhaled, shuddering at how broken he sounded.

“Look, no amount of sorry if going to cut it. Grow a fucking pair and go apologise to Tetsu now.” Aomine snapped.

“How? How can I face him?”

“You know Kuroko. He’ll listen.” Kagami wasn’t as harsh.

“Ki-chan, please fix it. Tetsu-kun- we tried, but- _just please_.” He can see the tears in her eyes. He feels the familiar prick of tears too.

“Alright.”

 

* * *

He loosens the tie around his neck. Since departing from Narita airport, he’s been at Aomine’s and Kagami’s, without a chance to change.

Tentatively, he knocks at the door.

He knows he has the right address, however, when he hears the familiar barking of a dog, and a quick, “Nigou, don’t run inside!”

Steeling himself for the very worse, he takes a deep breath and tightens his grip on his bag.

The door opens.

“Ryouta?” His voice breathes.

\--

“I’m sorry.” He says over and over again once he’s seated at the kitchen table. He’s sat here many times before, but it’s never been this tense before.

“Why are you here, Ryouta?” Kuroko doesn’t look at him, and he feels like punching himself for doing this.

“I need to make things right,Tetsuya.” Kuroko flinches at the name.

“Don’t. You walked out on me; there’s nothing to fix, especially since you made that so clear.”

“I’m sorry. I was a coward and I was looking for something I couldn’t find. I found it with you, though.”

“Is that why you’re here, Ryouta?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, Tetsuya. So sorry. I was an asshole and I-I want things to go back to the way they were.”

“But you said I didn’t make you happy.”

“I know,” and Kise was sobbing now, “but I-I just thought that, and look at how wrong I was. I’m so empty and bitter-“

“Do you think I don’t feel the same? Do you not think I didn’t feel that way after you left me?”

“Like I said, I’m sorry! I’m so goddamn sorry!”

“I don’t want your apologies, Ryouta. Just tell me why you’re here.”

“Because I want to be with you. The fucking second I walked out of that door seven years ago I wanted to go back in and change everything, but I was too much of a coward.”

“I was with Momoi-san for a while.” Kuroko whispers.

A second, then, “What?”

“After you left. She was over here a lot, one thing led to another and we were together for about four years I’d say. I even proposed.”

“Then, she told me one day that she felt like she was rushing me into things when I hadn’t fully moved on. It took me a second to realise that I still love you. And I-we split up. She’s happy now- in her marriage.”

“She’s married?”

“Pregnant. But you wouldn’t know- you packed up and left us. Left us all.” Kuroko almost hisses.

“How can I fix it? I still love you, Tetsuya, I do, really, but if you want me to walk out, I will.”

Kuroko looks at Kise, and Kise is taken by the intensity of his eyes. They were usually impassive, warm at best, but now they were icy-

-before they softened.

“You’re not walking out anywhere. Come here,” Kuroko opens his arms, and Kise very nearly jumps into them.

He buries his face in Kuroko’s shoulder, and he sobs, and sobs. Kuroko kisses the top of his head, and in return, he kisses Kuroko’s cheek.

“I’m not leaving,” Kise says with resolve, “I love you, Tetsuya.”

“Same here, Ryouta.”


End file.
